Haitian first lady Martine Moïse says she's considering running for president after her husband was assassinated

• Former Haitian first lady Martine Moïse said she's considering running for president.
• This came less than a month after her husband, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated at their home.
• Martine Moïse said she believes the mastermind of the killing hasn't been caught.

Former Haitian first lady Martine Moïse says she is now seriously considering running for president after her husband, Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated at their home, leaving her wounded in the attack earlier this month.

"President Jovenel had a vision," Moïse told The New York Times in a report published Friday, adding, "and we Haitians are not going to let that die."

A band of armed gunmen stormed into the couple's private residence in Haiti on July 7 and assassinated the president, critically wounding his wife.

"I would like people who did this to be caught, otherwise they will kill every single president who takes power," the first lady told the Times in her first interview since her husband's brutal murder.

"They did it once. They will do it again," she said.

Haitian authorities have arrested over two dozen people in connection to the assassination - including two US citizens. They've pointed to a Florida-based pastor, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, as a key conspirator in the killing. But there are many open questions about the assassination, and few answers.

Moïse's assassination by a hit squad of foreign mercenaries in early July pushed an already struggling country into further chaos. Haiti was facing ongoing political turmoil, on top of rampant gang violence and poverty, when he was killed. Shortly before the assassination, the United Nations Security Council in a statement expressed "deep concern regarding deteriorating political, security, and humanitarian conditions in Haiti."

He came to power in 2017 after a prolonged and rocky election cycle. Prior to his killing, there was a contentious consistutional dispute over the length of his presidential term.

Moïse's opponents claimed that he stayed in power past his term limit, but he refused to step down. This prompted protests against his rule. Compounding the matter was the fact Moïse had been ruling by decree since January 2020 after dissolving parliament and failing to hold legislative elections.

Back in February, Haitian officials arrested nearly two dozen people in what was described as an attempted coup. At the time, Moïse said, "The goal of these people was to make an attempt on my life."

Haiti continues to be gripped by political uncertainty and unrest.

A new prime minister, Ariel Henry, was sworn-in last Tuesday after a brief power struggle between him and Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph.

At Moïse's funeral last week, protestors clashed with police and gunfire prompted President Joe Biden's ambassador to the UN to leave early.

The Biden administration has offerred assistance to Haiti as it investigates Moïse's assassination, but rebuffed a request for the US to send in troops to help quell the unrest.

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield last week said Haiti took a "positive step" forming a new government under Henry, but underscored that a key task facing Haitian leaders "will be to create the conditions for free and fair legislative and presidential elections as soon as feasible."